Call of the Wild [Import]

Despite having his name over the title, this is not Jack London's Call of the Wild. This is a completely original story about a young man named Miles Challenger--not a character in the original book. The script incorporates characters and incidents from the book, but the story is totally different. However, taken on its own merits, the film is entertaining. Miles is a character young people can relate to, and the film does offer an interesting look at life up north during the Alaska gold rush. Just don't expect Jack London's story, or you will be disappointed.

In case the other two reviews don't convince you, this has almost nothing to do with Jack London's story. I was thinking as I watched it, "At least they took out the violence so young children can watch it" but then there's the scene with the frozen stiff man, and the drowning in the frozen water scene was pretty bad for little ones, too. Not to mention all the dogs dying left and right.

Don't waste your time.

I'll start with a few words for those who have seen this series - or even if you haven't - and want to obtain it. The Complete Series - Call of the Wild-Complete Series is the best way to go. It is possibly(at this time) the best deal in all of the TV DVDs. On 3 discs you get the entire series - which ran one season - 13 episodes. Also, if you've been surfing around and have seen the DVD titled: Call of the Wild 2: Foxfire- you should know that is absolutely mislabeled - there is no season 2 - the episode Foxfire and the entire pilot are included in the complete set. It's very confusing. But if you look at the number of discs and the run time, this one sold here and Foxfire, are one disc each with a running time of 120 minutes, you can tell that these are not a full season. The complete set runs 420 minutes.

The Series -Although, an excellent show with some original story lines that had great potential - and once again don't let the title fool you - is not Jack London's Call of the Wild. There are some story-lines that have similarity to certain episodes/adventures in the book, but basically it is about Buck the dog, and the life he may have led after all the trial and tribulations he went through in the book, finally settling with a family that loves him.

The story takes place in a small gold mining town in the Yukon around the late 1800's-early 1900's. Buck comes to town, to be auctioned as a sled dog and Miles Challenger, a teen with aspirations of being the best guide there ever was, wants to own Buck desperately, but the bidding is getting very high.Of course, Buck does become part of Miles' family, and is proved to be one great dog, usually saving lives and the day.

The stories are suspenseful, adventurous, and as we get to know the inhabitants of the little town, and share their personal lives, many of the episodes are heartwarming as well. Some of the episodes even have a wonderful mystical note to them, including Indian lore, and a visit from a famous gunfighter who as history tells us was not even alive at that time. Although basically a family friendly series, I wouldn't recommend it to the very young child. There are some scenes which may be too violent or scary - dog fighting, bear attacks, murder, etc. Also,another disappointment is that there is no season 2. The last episode leaves us hanging as to what will happen with some of our favorite characters.

The acting is wonderful - Buck is fabulous, and a young Shane Meier interacts expertly with Nick Mancuso as his step-father who is trying hard to both teach Miles the ways of the frontier and be a father to a reluctant step-son;the scenery, - much taking place in the snowy mountains is gorgeous; and the background music gives the perfect tone to the stories. The DVDs are very nice, with good quality picture and color.

I really enjoyed the series and would recommend it. I think it could have developed into something great, maybe another Lassie. 3 stars for complete series for the misleading title(Jack London's Call of the Wild)and the fact that we are left without knowing what happened to the characters. 1 star for this as it is just not a good buy compared with the entire series.

Enjoy the view .....Laurie